tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19214002.post7822843247377551747..comments2024-02-05T00:53:15.750-08:00Comments on Food Writer’s Diary: Aunt Donna knows ThirteenBret Thornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05421121059536730439noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19214002.post-61788224896561899142008-04-28T10:37:00.000-07:002008-04-28T10:37:00.000-07:00It's funny (strange, not ha-ha) that I never reall...It's funny (strange, not ha-ha) that I never really thought about what Had Gadya meant until this year, when an attempt at explaining it was made in the hagaddah used during our second seder — that one nation consumes another but in the end we hope justice prevails. That explanation rings kind of hollow to me. Then again, “Life sucks, but we hope someday it won’t” is kind of a common Jewish mantra.<BR/>To be honest, I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean. Humility before God is my best guess — no matter how great you think you are, something’s out there that can come along and kick your ass. <BR/>It is strangely fun to smack the table when reciting it, though.Bret Thornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421121059536730439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19214002.post-12494821796962866692008-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:002008-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00The Had Gadya is another of those examples where A...The Had Gadya is another of those examples where Ashkenazi and German traditions are a lot alike, except not relly. There is an old German children's song about a farm hand who is sent to harvest oats but never comes back. A long succession of creatures and things (dog, stick, fire, water ox, butcher) is sent out, with increasing threats of violence (to the previously sent our creature or thing, not the original farm hand). In good German order, all this is to no avail until the lord (or Lord - it's "Herr" in German and could go either way) himself goes out and everyone falls into line. I'm not sure what it all means, but it sounds to me like the Had Gadya is about unfolding violent chaos that is righted in the end whereas the German version's chaos consist of people not following orders (the fire refuses to burn the stick, etc.), a circumstance set right only by the arrival of an authority figure who may or may not be divine in nature. But that's just my $0.02.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com